Christie Cookie 5k

It's time to race again! After the Harvest Moon 10k last October, I didn't really run again until I started coaching the distance runners at Beech High School in January. I'd run with them a few days a week, which enabled me to get a little bit of basic aerobic fitness in. I took about a month or so off at the end of their season and until after my honeymoon. After the honeymoon, I reached an all-time weight record of 168 pounds which gave me the motivation to get my weight down.

I was running 4-5 days a week from July on and was slowly building some fitness. My "B" goal for this race was 18:00, with my "A" goal being 17:30. Unfortunately, for the past few weeks, I've had a sinus infection and have been clogged up for quite a while. I didn't know too much about the course, so I didn't know what to expect.

I got out a little slow and shortly into the race, settled into third place. Chris Demetra had a huge lead from the gun and I tried to stay somewhat close to Jacob Carrigan. The course had a lot of rolling hills and I didn't get any of my splits but at the two mile mark, Jacob was only a few seconds ahead of me. I had a goal of reeling in him and then outkicking him but as the race went on, I fell further back with every minute. I crossed the line in 18:14, with Jacob at 17:48 and Chris at 16:35.

I was pretty frustrated with the race because I haven't run a 5k this slow since 8th grade and I thought my workouts indicated sub 18 fitness. Oh well.